Downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas, is built within a rich patchwork of woods, streams, and steep hillsides. Recently, the city of nearly 100,000 worked to enhance its natural beauty by creating The Ramble, a unique outdoor destination that preserves nature and celebrates the local arts. 

The undertaking required top design talent to create a one-of-a-kind community fixture. To kick-off the $11 million project, landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz contacted Olsson to serve as the project’s structural designer and civil engineer.

The Ramble is a dynamic 50-acre outdoor public space with stunning walkways that lead to nearby cultural institutions. The attraction also features trails, street improvements, and a variety of seating and performance areas. The first phase, the Lower Ramble, opened to the public last fall.

Olsson’s team evaluated how to create safe walkways while conserving native trees and plants. The solution: winding, elevated walkways where visitors can safely view streams and wooded hillsides. Our team took extra care to design elements that protect and improve the stream ecology of the Tanglewood Branch Creek, which runs year-round through the forest.

Adjacent to Fay Jones Woods, Olsson performed major streetscape improvements and widenings to ensure accessibility and a pedestrian-friendly design. The updated streets connect visitors to the entertainment district and key civic institutions like the Fayetteville Public Library, the University of Arkansas, the Walton Arts Center, and the Razorback Greenway trail.

Olsson is excited to also provide engineering services for phase two, the Upper Ramble. This portion will enhance parking, add a civic plaza, and expand bike and walking trails. Olsson is also the prime consultant for the new parking deck in Fayetteville's downtown arts corridor.